"I am afraid," he said, "that I haven't time to go back to the house—my train goes at seven. Can I get down to the village through the valley?"
Honora pointed out the road, faintly perceptible through the trees beneath them.
"And you will apologize for my departure to Mrs. Holt?"
She nodded. He took her hand, pressed it, and was gone. And presently, in a little clearing far below, he turned and waved his hat at her bravely.
CHAPTER XII
WHICH CONTAINS A SURPRISE FOR MRS. HOLT
How long she sat gazing with unseeing eyes down the valley Honora did not know. Distant mutterings of thunder aroused her; the evening sky had darkened, and angry-looking clouds of purple were gathering over the hills. She rose and hurried homeward. She had thought to enter by the billiard-room door, and so gain her own chamber without encountering the household; but she had reckoned without her hostess. Beyond the billiard room, in the little entry filled with potted plants, she came face to face with that lady, who was inciting a footman to further efforts in his attempt to close a recalcitrant skylight. Honora proved of more interest, and Mrs. Holt abandoned the skylight.
"Why, my dear," she said, "where have you been all afternoon?"
"I—I have been walking with Mr. Erwin, Mrs. Holt. I have been showing him Silverdale."
"And where is he? It seems to me I invited him to stay all night, and
Joshua tells me he extended the invitation."